The Armor of G-d – Part II

By George, on September 11th, 2010

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.Ephesians 6:10-18

This is a second post concerning the armor of G-d and I’m writing it because the more I think about the Armor, the less sense it makes to me. In my mind, an armor is something you put on as protection when you are going to fight. The problem is that G-d does not tell us to fight;

The L-RD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”Exodus 14:14

Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The L-RD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the L-RD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”Deuteronomy 1:29-31

Do not be afraid of them; the L-RD your G-d himself will fight for you.”Deuteronomy 3:22

One of you routs a thousand, because the L-RD your God fights for you, just as he promised.Joshua 23:10

You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the L-RD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.2 Chronicles 20:17

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.Ephesians 6:12

Over and over again, the L-rd specifically tells us “I will fight for you!” Over and over again the L-rd tells us that all we need to do is to stand. Alright, if we are not the ones that are going to fight, then whey do we need to put on an armor? The armor is for protection but, if we ourselves are not fighting then why would we need all of this protection?

If we read the verses in Ephesians carefully, the purpose of the armor is for us to be able to stand our ground. What ground is Rav Shaul (Paul) talking about? If our struggle is not against flesh and blood, which would want to physically gain ground, then what ground is he talking about?

We are firmly grafted in the seed promises and planted together with the people of G-d and we are firmly grafted in the “princehood” of Yeshua and secured by his spilled blood. The ground that Ephesians 6:13 talks about is our soul and our spirit and our example of how we should “stand” and “do battle” is Yeshua himself when he says, “It is written…”:

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ” ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matthew 4:1-11